Go check mileage ratings of ‘97 850 wagon. MSN Autos keeps specs of old cars. It was 19/26 10 years ago AND 850 had more space in the rear seat. It also came with stick and in fact, had better performance.

Ford made Volvo into differently looking Explorer. BTW, have you checked pricing on 2009 V50 AWD? It now costs more than Audi A4 Avant. Another “smart move” from Detroit management.

The new XC70 is longer than my car. Too long to fit easily in my garage, in fact. So I’m looking at buying something other than a Volvo for the first time. I’d like to know which wagon has the best leg room in the passenger seat area? My 14 year old is 6′ tall. I’m short but the kids are all giants, go figure. I need a roomy back seat without the car being so long that it is too long for the garage. And I don’t care about typos. I love your writing style; really cracked me up. Not sure what “hoonage” is but maybe that’s because I’m 50.

Not sure what you mean by an SUV having more clearance than an XC70, remember that the 08+ XC70s have a higher ground clearance than a Jeep Grand Cherokee. The mileage isn’t fantastic in the XC, but in my testing I was unable to get the mileage as low as the EPA was claiming for the XC70 T6. at 75 on the freeway I averaged about 24mpg and in city driving I was about 18-19, which isn’t fantastic, but it’s a decent way from 15.

Although I know they are quite close in price in Europe too.

As for the 528i, I think it would be a really good idea for BMW to offer a 528i/525i in the US, but I guess they’re still scared that the lower number scares off ‘bigger is better ‘mericans’ and hurt the perception of their brand.

Here in Europe you can even get the 4-banger 520i…

Spot on. It would kick the teeth of the Bimmer anytime.

Ah and Clarkson is a clueless loser moron, BTW.

Really? XC70 is rated 15/22mpg. 15 mpg in a wagon??? I’ll take an SUV then, more clearance and wider choice of models at lower prices and some of them can actually carry 7-8 people. High clearance comes handy – just look at Northwest weather these days. Yeah, wagon is AWD but I have half a mile to drive on unplowed streets before I reach cleared arterial road. It seems like Volvo wagon is only for “looking” green (oh, look at me, I am not driving an SUV!) rather than actually get lots of cargo moving ability without SUV bulk and bad mileage.

BMW – why there is no 528 wagon? I don’t get it – why family/cargo hauler must have sub 7 sec 0-60?

VW – why no AWD with 2.0T? A4 is available with 2.0 and Quattro. Why no TDI?

In fact, the only sensible Euro wagons left are A4 2.0T and V50 AWD.

You might be surprised to hear this, but driving dynamics wise the Volvo really isn’t bad. It is by far a better driver’s car than the Passat and personally, I preferred it to the E350 as well. The steering is well balanced, the engine is quite responsive. The only handling problem is the height. I have tested a Euro spec V70 T6 and with the height reduction it becomes a very good performer, with the optional dynamic suspension it is even better. Will it ever be a BMW? No. But should the V70 T6 ever grace our shores, it would be the winner of this matchup.

SherbornSean, Badly. The Venza’s interior makes the E350’s look like a palace. With leather and Nav the Venza comes out to $35,810 which is too much to pay for a plastic penalty box that drives like a Camry on stilts (because it is). Get the Passat, it’s a better deal any way you slice it.

These cars are for people who just had a baby at the age of 50.
Even you have a good market target on this car it will never sell for an average Joe the plumber.

No excitement just show and drive.

I everytime I see them. I feel like the owner is saying “hey, I drive this car and I have money”Ohhhh Please!!!!!

Factotum is not writing an Article for ‘Time Magazine”.

He can write whatever he wants to write. grammatical error or not.

Factotum don’t let these arrogant TTAC readers get you.
They are humans too and they are not perfect. Continue what you are writing even the wrong spelling.

At least you are not a wanna be A smart person but a real person

I doubt the seats are as nice, or the handling as fun, but otherwise, I am having trouble seeing why people spend more than $30K for station wagons.

This is the Truth About Cars site…I believe you were looking for the “thetruthaboutgrammarandpunctuation.com” site, weren’t you?

I’m in total agreement with the excrement M-B interiors. What happened there? They used to be so nice, so well-thought out, and so touch-friendly. Now it’s like they can’t decide if they want it to be hip, modern, old-school, or euro. So they do all of it at the same time. The R-Class is the worst recipient of this mess.

I also love the 5-series wagons. I worry about the reliability. Same goes for the Audi wagons. Excellent styling, great interiors, proper aural feedback, and good driving dynamics. But unfortunately for their owners, they see too much of their dealers.

The Passat really didn’t fit in this review all that well. That said, it would do a lot poorer if it was in a review against say a Subaru Impreza wagon. Then the value proposition would get turned on its head.

Sadly, the Volvo really is the best choice for family hauling because of its kid-friendly features (which become parent friendly soon enough), great seats, and great safety ratings. I say sadly because the driving dynamics look to be piss poor. For someone who likes wagons because of driving dynamics far and away better than any SUV, it partly kills the reason for getting a wagon in the first place.

Now, can the 5 series tow? Absolutely, they do it all the time on the other side of the pond.

Should you tow against the manufacturer’s recommendations? I would caution against this. My good friend’s transmission failed in his 5 series towing one jet ski. BMW refused to cover it because it was towed into the shop and he was honest about what happened. He mentioned that in the EU they are rated to tow, that of course didn’t help the situation and he was stiffed with the repair bill.

At the end of the day when recommending a car to someone, I would always refer to the manufacturer’s recommendations rather than get someone in a sticky situation. The review is 100% accurate, in this lineup the XC70 is the only vehicle with a rated towing capacity in the N. American market.

As far as I’m aware, TTAC doesn’t have a “standard” on things like this. You’ve read the editorial you link to, you know the argument. And where TTAC writers leave off, the B&B pick up.

Gotcha. Thanks for clearing that up. I don’t mean to bust Mr. Dykes’ nuts, but the test criteria and policy did merit clarification.